Sixth grade chess champ wins big

CHECKMATE-Lindero Canyon Middle School sixthgrader Dennis Neymit of Agoura Hills took home a trophy literally taller than himself when he won the Western States chess tournament recently. His father, Michael, admits he can't compete with his 12year-old son anymore. Dennis has been playing chess seriously for just two years. Dennis Neymit, a sixth-grade student at Lindero Canyon Middle School in Agoura Hills, is a competitive sportsman, but soccer, baseball and basketball have taken a back seat to the mind-strengthening sport of chess.

The 12-year-old recently won the Western States chess tournament, a prestigious competition held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Ventura. Dennis was the grand champion for his age group and captured a trophy taller than he is.

"I love the game," Dennis said. "I mean it's really fun. It involves mental thinking . . . you have to be mentally fit and also physically fit so your brain can work well."

Dennis' accomplishment, said his father, Michael Neymit, is significant because the boy only started to play seriously two years ago. Neymit said most children who compete in chess tournaments start playing the game in kindergarten or first grade.

"Many of the kids he is currently competing against have been playing for five to six years," Neymit said. "Nevertheless, Dennis' progress has been amazing. I'm very proud. I can't compete with him anymore."

Although Dennis learned the nuts and bolts of chess from his father in fourth grade, he said that he really took a shine to the game as an extracurricular course while attending White Oak Elementary School in Westlake Village. After Dennis showed a high level of skill, his father enrolled him in the Borchard Community Center in Newbury Park, where Akagi Kayashima's Chess Club meets weekly.

The boy launched his competitive chess career last October, when he entered rated tournaments. Since then, Dennis has claimed myriad awards, and a "sizeable collection of trophies," according to his father.

For Dennis, chess is more than just a competitive game. He considers the sport mind-expanding, and believes it improves his overall mental skills, especially in math. But Neymit isn't sure what came first for his son-being a math whiz or a chess champ.

"Being good in math is actually really important because you have to do a lot of calculating in chess just like in math," Dennis said. "(Chess) expanded my mind so I could improve my thinking skills."

Neymit added that chess helps develop logical thinking and planning and aids in a variety of skills used in scientific fields.

Chess also turned into a social club for Dennis when he started his own club on campus.

It takes more than playing socially, however, to become a chess champ. Dennis dedicates time to chess every day, but he varies his routine, playing chess on the Internet, reading strategy books, taking private lessons and taking part in chess club games. He also participates in a gymnastics class, and said that the exercise reduces stress and helps him prepare for chess tournaments.

An A student, Dennis also enjoys playing ping-pong, and plays the clarinet with his school band. He played his biggest tournament yet this past weekend. More than 250 players competed, and on the third day of the competition he won three matches.

Neymit hopes that more opportunities in chess will open in the Conejo Valley. He cited International Chess Master Dean Ippolito, who wrote that studies have demonstrated a correlation between increased academic performances of students who regularly play chess. Ippolito said that the scholastic chess membership in the nation has exploded among children, evidenced by competitions in national scholastic events.

"Unfortunately our area currently lags where it comes to having opportunities to play chess," Neymit said. "Studies had shown

marked improvement in student grades as a result of taking up the game of chess."

Dennis' success at chess may be contagious. He and a friend, Steven Francus, started a lunchtime chess club and the game is catching on with students. The boys dispense advice on the game to fellow students, but for the most part they just enjoy playing, Neymit said.

A quote from Nshan Keshishian, president of AAA Chess Club, speaks to Dennis' love of the game:

"Be quick to make chess your friend, for he who does will have a friend for life. In youth it diverts from indiscretion, in maturity it drives away the clouds of concern, and in the old age extends the pleasure of life," Keshishian says in the website's (www.aaachessclub.com) introduction.